Hi, it's me. I'm really sorry this new chapter took so long to write. Apart from finishing the first semester of my last year in college, I ended up getting sick and couldn't be on my laptop for more than an hour without getting headaches :p
I hope this new chapter makes up for my absence on this story.
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS!
Chapter 3
"That all you got, Shads?"
Sonic grinned as he turned around, running backward, to face Shadow. "Cause, just so you know, I'm only at my cruising speed," he told him, arms crossed as he confidently kept running with his back turned to the front of the road.
Shadow smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet, Sonic," he said coolly, his jet skates flaring. He dashed right past Sonic who, after looking stunned for a split second, laughed and turned around.
"Now we're talking!" the Blue Blur grinned and ran faster.
The streets of Station Square were bustling as usual. Mobians and humans alike went on with their day-to-day business while making sure to clear a path as the two hedgehogs raced around town. With Sonic the Hedgehog's frequent visits, the city's inhabitants were already well-aware of keeping to the sidewalks to avoid a high-speed collision with the blue hedgehog while he was out running.
Sonic and Shadow both came to a screeching stop as they reached an intersection, the pedestrian crossing light red, cars driving by them. While the timer counted down from 120, the two hedgehogs were able to catch their breath.
"I'm totally gonna win," Sonic declared to Shadow, the black-and-red hedgehog rolling his eyes.
Sonic suddenly felt something lightly tugging at his glove and looked down to see a little Mobian crocodile girl smiling up at him, holding a photo of him and a pen. Chuckling, Sonic looked at the little girl's father standing near him for an okay. At the elder crocodile's nod, Sonic took the little crocodile's picture and autographed it. The little crocodile giggled as the blue hedgehog patted her head.
Glancing in Shadow's direction, Sonic was surprised to see him also giving an autograph to a little human boy. While the boy's mother looked a little uncomfortable standing close to the Ultimate Lifeform, her son was grinning as he looked at Shadow with wide awe-filled eyes.
Shadow was doing his best to look nonchalant as he handed the boy a signed photograph of him. Then the boy said something, something Sonic couldn't hear thanks to all the cars as they whizzed by, which made Shadow smile a little. The Ultimate Lifeform said something that Sonic couldn't quite catch then, to Sonic's amazement, he and the boy fist-bumped.
Then the timer reached 0, allowing the pedestrians to cross. Sonic and Shadow waited for all the pedestrians to cross and, once the intersection was clear, they resumed their race around the city.
Their finish line was the gilded marble plaque of Emerald Coast Luxury Suites. Both hedgehogs spotted Rouge and Omega waiting by the plaque and sped up.
"FIRST!" Sonic and Shadow shouted as they skidded to a stop, a cloud of dust blowing over them, their hands slapping the gilded marble at the exact same time.
"I won!" Sonic pumped his fist in the air.
"Not a chance! My hand hit the plaque first!" Shadow fired back.
"Mmmmm… no, I think I won this time, Shads," Sonic grinned.
"Omega, Rouge," Shadow turned to his teammates. "You saw us, right? Who won?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Well, hun…" Rouge rubbed her eyes. "If you two hadn't kicked up a dust cloud, I would have been able to actually see," she coughed out.
"VISIBILITY HAD BEEN REDUCED BY 70%. UNABLE TO COMPUTE ACCURATE RESULTS FOR YOUR RACE." Omega added.
Both hedgehogs noticed the dust clinging to the two and themselves and blushed.
"Yikes… Sorry 'bout that…" Sonic said, looking sheepish. Then he glanced at Shadow and smirked. "I still won that race, though," he insisted.
"Hmph! Yeah, right…" Shadow huffed, unable to stop the corner of his lip from curling up in a slight smile.
"Come on, you two." Rouge dusted herself off. "I found a restaurant that offers a gorgeous view of Emerald Coast that serves the best drinks," she said, slinging her arms over the two hedgehogs and leading them away from the dusty hotel plaque with Omega clunking behind them.
Sonic quickly smoothed down his quills as the restaurant came into view. While the site's close proximity to the ocean made him nervous, the fact that he was with Team Dark made him feel a little more at ease. At least if a tidal wave suddenly came rushing in, he could grab onto Omega and the robot could fly him to safety while Rouge carried Shadow…
Luckily for Sonic, there wasn't a sign of an earthquake, a tsunami, or any other natural disaster today. And he, Shadow, and Rouge could sit down and have a lovely meal while Omega recharged at a nearby power outlet near the restaurant's entrance.
"So how'd your mission go?" Sonic asked as he nibbled on a breadstick.
"Went off without a hitch. Honestly, those robbers were complete amateurs." Rouge smiled serenely as she sipped her cocktail. "Omega and I recovered the jewels they'd stolen from Casinopolis while Shadow rounded them up," she said, winking at her ebony teammate.
"Roundhouse kicked them a few times, Shads?" Sonic asked, bumping shoulders with the Ultimate Lifeform.
"A few times," replied Shadow, simultaneously wondering why he ended up sitting beside Sonic and not minding the light shoulder or hand bumps one bit. He looked at Rouge and smirked.
"Before I left, Rouge, I tasked you with returning all of the stolen jewels to the casino's owners. You did return all of the jewels, didn't you?"
Rouge took a long sip of her cocktail, almost draining her glass.
"Rouge…" Shadow sighed, holding out his hand.
"Oh, it's just one ruby. I'm sure they have hundreds more locked away in their vaults…" Rouge huffed, reaching into her purse and handing Shadow a single ruby the size of an egg.
"I guess I'm heading to Casinopolis after this," Shadow mumbled, stuffing the gemstone into his quills.
"Sweet. Mind if I come with? I haven't raced on their pinball tracks in like forever," Sonic piped up.
Shadow shrugged. "Do what you want," he told him just as the waiter arrived with their orders.
For a while, the three Mobians were content to eat in silence and ignore the stares from the other diners. When Sonic got up to use the bathroom, however, Rouge looked at Shadow and smiled.
"You and Blue are getting along really well," the bat remarked.
Shadow blinked, his forkful of steak raised halfway to his mouth. "Pardon?"
"Ever since we fought the Black Arms, you two have been spending a lot of time together," Rouge clarified. At her friend's confused look, she continued. "You guys race whenever you see each other. You're not as moody and surly towards him as you were in the past. You even smile at him, Shadow."
Shadow avoided her gaze, his cheeks turning pink. "He's okay company," he mumbled.
"More than okay, I'll bet," Rouge chuckled just as Sonic arrived.
"What's 'more than okay?'" asked the Blue Hedgehog.
Right as Shadow gave Rouge a warning glare, Tails came running into the restaurant. "Sonic! Am I glad I found you…" the two-tailed fox panted, clutching the Miles Electric in his hands.
"What's up, Tails?" Sonic noticed the worried look on his younger brother's face and the beeping of the Miles Electric.
"The Miles Electric picked up a distress signal. Eggman's active again and he's already built a factory on a new location," Tails said, showing the blinking Eggman logo on the Miles Electric's map interface.
"EGGMAN ON THE OFFENSIVE. ELIMINATE ALL OF EGGMAN'S ROBOTS. INITIATE ANTI-EGGMAN PROTOCOL." Omega announced, ripping his power plug out of the socket and stomping over to the team's table.
"I'll pay for the damages later!" Rouge called out to the bartender, calming down Omega before the robot started loading his guns.
"Guess we gotta go crack Egghead's latest scheme." Sonic took a big gulp of his soda. "Where's his new factory located?" he asked, facing Tails with an excited grin.
"Christmas Island."
And just like that, Sonic's grin was wiped off his face and replaced with a blank look. His hands unconsciously gripped the edges of the table as they started to itch. For a few moments, he was completely silent as he stared at the Miles Electric's screen and the red Eggman logo blinking on that now-familiar-looking landmass. Just the sight of the island's outline on the map made his blood boil.
Taking a deep breath, Sonic tore his gaze away from the Miles Electric and focused on Shadow. "Good luck, Shads," he said simply and got up.
"Wait, Sonic…" Tails blinked as his older brother placed a hundred Rings – his portion of the bill – on the table and began to leave.
"Sonic, what are you doing?" Tails' namesakes twirled anxiously behind him.
"I'm letting Team Dark handle this one, bud," Sonic said, ruffling the fox boy's head.
"You're not coming with us?" Shadow questioned him, raising an eye ridge.
"Nope," Sonic replied, popping the 'p' as he headed out of the restaurant.
"FINE WITH ME. ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS SHALL BE ELIMINATED." Omega declared.
Rouge and Shadow looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Since when did Sonic the Hedgehog turn down an opportunity to take down his arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman?
"Something's not right," Rouge whispered to Shadow. Nodding, Shadow kept his eye on Sonic as the blue hedgehog left the restaurant, Tails right behind him.
"I could use a little help with developing upgrades for the new Chaos signature detector, Sonny boy. I'm not calling at a bad time, am I?"
"No problemo, Uncle Chuck. I'll be right over!" Sonic replied, hanging up and tucking his phone away in his quills.
"Sonic, wait!" Tails called out to him as he raced off in the direction of Mobotropolis. "What about Eggman? We gotta get to Christmas Island!" he shouted after the Blue Blur.
"Shadow and his team can handle it!" Sonic hollered back and put on a fresh burst of speed.
As he ran, Sonic dropped his cheerful façade and scowled. He had hoped to take his mind off of things by spending time with Shadow, Rouge, and Omega. But, now, the news of Eggman's latest scheme had re-opened old wounds.
'It might do those monsters some good being plagued by Egghead's contraptions. Maybe then they'll learn that so-called "freaks" and "weirdos" can rise up to be either the greatest or the most dangerous…' he thought bitterly as his feet carried him to Mobotropolis.
Team Dark could handle this new mission. They can go to Christmas Island without him.
Because he was never going back there.
'I'm not going back. I'm never going back…' Sonic thought as the words of his younger self came echoing back to him.
"I am never going back, ever."
The next chapter will be written in a few days' time. Until then, please read and review :)
-GuardianDragon98
